The New Roommate
by Mulderette
Summary: Ty and Carlos get a new roommate.


Title: The New Roommate  
  
Author: Lynne Facella  
  
Email: Lynne1919@aol.com  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero. I wish they were mine but unfortunately they're not.  
  
Summary: Ty and Carlos get a new roommate.  
  
******  
  
"Hey? You doing okay?" Sully's eyes were full of compassion as he placed his hand gently on his young partner's shoulder. It had been an exceedingly rough shift. An 8-year-old girl had gone missing that afternoon. She had never made it home from school. They had spent their shift searching for the child and finally, at a little bit past nine, Ty and Sully had discovered her body. They found her in the park, her body hidden under a pile of leaves.   
  
"Sometimes I hate this job." Ty got up off the bench and slammed his locker shut as hard as he could, trying to get rid of some of his frustration. He couldn't get the image of the young girl out of his head. No matter how many times he saw stuff like this, each time it happened again, it still hit him with a wallop. He just didn't understand how a person could do something like that. Her mother had collapsed on the ground in hysterics after they had given her the news and her father had tried to be strong, but it had been obvious he had barely been holding it together.   
  
"I know." Sully nodded and sighed. Nights like this were the kind of nights he felt like going home and drowning himself in a bottle of booze. "You want to go out for a while? Grab some coffee or something to eat?"   
  
Ty shook his head as he glanced back at his partner. "No thanks, Sul...I think I just want to go home and try to get some sleep." Maybe then he'd be able to get the horror of this night out of his head.   
  
They left the locker room and walked out to the parking lot together. "I'll see you tomorrow," Sully said when they arrived at where his car was parked. "You take it easy."  
  
"You too, Sully," Ty replied. "Goodnight."   
  
"Goodnight," Sully replied. He got into his car and watched until Ty had arrived at his own car and had gotten inside. Then he pulled out of his parking spot and started towards home.  
  
******  
  
Ty left the precinct parking lot and started driving around aimlessly. He didn't really feel like going home just yet. After driving for a short time, he found himself back at the park where they had found the little girl. He parked his car and slowly started to walk along the dirt path. He couldn't help wondering how this had happened. Why hadn't anyone seen anything? He neared the area where they had found the child's body and he stopped short, not wanting to go any closer. There were still police personnel milling about, keeping the area secure. A thorough search for evidence would be done when daylight hit. Ty sighed to himself, then turned around and started to walk along the path back towards his car. He hadn't gone far when he heard a faint rustling noise behind the trees. He froze for an instant, then instinctively reached for his gun before he realized he didn't have it with him.   
  
"Damn..." His heart pounding, he cautiously started to walk in the direction of the sound. All he could think of was that it was the son of a bitch who had killed that little girl. Suddenly, the rustling got louder and something came bolting out towards him. It stopped at his feet and started yipping.   
  
"Man, you scared me, little guy." Ty shook his head and chuckled as he squatted down beside the dog. It was a puppy, looked like some sort of a mixed terrier. Its fur was dirty and mangled and it wasn't wearing a collar. "You kind of look how I feel tonight," he said, reaching out to pet the dog who wagged its tail excitedly at the attention. "You like that, don't you."   
  
He continued to pet the dog for a few minutes. He wondered how long it had been in the park. From the looks of the animal, it seemed to have been there for quite some time. It had obviously been neglected. "Do you know what happened here today?" he asked quietly. The dog focused its eyes on Ty's face as he spoke, almost as if it understood. "Did you see anything? Do you know who killed that little girl?" The pup nuzzled its wet nose into Ty's hand, begging for more attention.   
  
"I've got to get going." Ty patted the dog one more time and stood up. The puppy sat right at Ty's feet and stared up at him, its tail still wagging. "Aww man...don't look at me like that..." He started to walk away, but predictably the puppy followed along on Ty's heels. Ty looked down at the puppy thoughtfully for a few moments, then reached down and picked it up. "Oh what the heck, come on."  
  
******  
  
"What the heck is that?" Carlos asked as he entered the apartment and saw Ty sitting on the couch, cuddling a raggedy looking dog.   
  
"What is it?" Ty asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at his roommate. "It's a dog, Carlos."  
  
Carlos rolled his eyes. "Funny. I know it's a dog, Ty. What is it doing here?"  
  
"I kind of found him in the park," Ty answered.  
  
"The park?" A cloud came over Carlos' face as he took a seat on the couch. He and Kim had been the paramedics on the scene when Ty and Sully had found the little girl. "I didn't notice a dog there."  
  
Ty shook his head. "He wasn't there then...I went back there after my shift. That's when I found him."  
  
"You went back?" Carlos asked, giving Ty a curious look.  
  
"Yeah..." Ty nodded, then shrugged. "I don't really know why...I just sort of found myself there..."  
  
"That's understandable," Carlos said quietly. The scene earlier that evening had hit them all pretty hard. It had been indescribably sad. The death of a child was always hard to take, but under those circumstances, it was even worse.   
  
"So, is it a male?" Carlos asked, looking at the dog, unable to tell from his vantage point.  
  
"Yeah, he's a male." Ty chuckled.   
  
The puppy pulled away from Ty and made his way over to Carlos then licked his hand tentatively. "Man...this thing needs a bath," Carlos laughed, as he caved in and patted the puppy, causing his tail to wag a little bit more vigorously.   
  
"Yeah he does. You want to help me with that?" Ty asked hopefully.  
  
"Hey, I didn't ask you to bring him home," Carlos answered with a grin.  
  
"Aw come on, look at him," Ty said. "What was I supposed to do, leave him in the park? You brought Bird home."  
  
"I know, Ty, but at least Bird lives in a cage. This dog probably isn't even housebroken. If we keep him, who's going to take him out when we're on duty? Its not like we work opposite shifts."  
  
Ty pondered that for a few moments. "What about that kid, Mario? He walks other people's dogs in this building. I'm sure he'd be glad to earn some more money every week. He's saving up for college."  
  
"It's that important to you?" Carlos asked. "I mean I'm sure if we brought him to an animal shelter we could find him a good home. Besides, what if he already has a home? What if he's just lost?"  
  
"I'll put an ad in the paper," Ty stated. He was relatively sure no one would respond though. There were tons of abandoned and stray animals running all over the city. He didn't think anyone would be claiming this one.  
  
"Alright," Carlos said after a few moments of silence. "If it matters that much to you..."   
  
"You hear that?" Ty beckoned to the puppy, which returned to him, wagging his tail vigorously. "Uncle Carlos said you can stay."  
  
Carlos laughed. "I'm not being Uncle Carlos to a dog."  
  
"Aww...don't listen to him, he doesn't mean it."  
  
"We need to give him a bath," Carlos said as he got to his feet. "He might have fleas."   
  
"Okay...I guess you're right. Ummm...you think we should get some kind of dog soap or something?"   
  
"Yeah, I guess we should. I'll go to the market and see what I can scrounge up. You stay here and dog-sit. Can I take your car?"   
  
"Sure. Thanks, Carlos." Ty grabbed his car keys and tossed them to his roommate.   
  
"No problem."  
  
******  
  
"I guess Carlos was right about you not being housebroken," Ty said. Luckily the puppy had been on the floor and not on the couch when it happened. Ty cleaned up the mess and then put some newspapers down in the dim hope that the dog would actually use them.   
  
A loud knock sounded on the door. "Hey Ty, let me in!"   
  
"Don't you have your key?" Ty asked as he rushed over to the door then saw the reason for Carlos' inability to open the door. His arms were filled with bags. "Did you buy the store out?"   
  
"He needed stuff," Carlos stated, handing one of the bags to Ty. "Food, a collar, a leash, a bowl, a dog bed, toys..."  
  
"A dog bed and toys?" Ty asked with a grin. "I thought you didn't even want this dog and now you're buying him toys?"  
  
"I don't want him," Carlos protested weakly. "I just...well we need to give him something so he isn't bugging us all the time."   
  
"Uncle Carlos is a softie," Ty said, laughing as the puppy scampered around them excitedly. "Uncle Carlos really likes you."   
  
"Oh shut up," Carlos said with a grin. "Come on, let's give this mangy mutt a bath."  
  
******  
  
"Wow...He cleans up good."  
  
"He looks like a whole different dog," Ty commented.   
  
The two men looked at the puppy admirably.   
  
"You're looking pretty good there, dog," Carlos said as he reached down to pat the dog's head. "You know, Ty...this dog needs a name."  
  
"Yeah you're right." Ty nodded thoughtfully. "What do you think we should call him?"  
  
Carlos shook his head and shrugged. "No clue."  
  
"Hmmm..." Ty looked at the dog, trying to think of something suitable. "We could call him Sully..." he suggested with a grin.  
  
"Oh yeah, your partner would love that," Carlos said. "Nah...How about Doc?"  
  
"Doc? I don't know..."  
  
"We're not very creative, are we?" Carlos said laughing.   
  
"Uh uh..." Ty pulled out a little ball from one of the bags Carlos had brought back with him and tossed it, watching as the little dog ran after it. "I don't know...we need to call him something."  
  
"Well..." Carlos looked down at the dog. "You found him wandering around in the park. We could call him Wanderer..."  
  
"I don't know...Gypsy?"  
  
Carlos made a face. "Explorer?"  
  
"Traveler?"  
  
"How about Hobo?" Carlos suggested.   
  
"Hobo..." Ty considered that for a few moments then nodded. "Yeah, Hobo sounds pretty good. He looks like a Hobo. I think it suits him."   
  
"Hear that Hobo?" Carlos asked, picking up the ball and rolling it down the hall. "You've got yourself a name. And I guess we've got ourselves a new roommate."  
  
"I guess we do," Ty said with a smile. "Thanks for letting me keep him, Carlos."   
  
"No problem," Carlos said. He glanced over at the clock. "It's pretty late. I think I'm going to hit the sack."  
  
"Okay. I guess I'll take him out for a little walk before I turn in."  
  
"You want me to go with you?" Carlos asked.  
  
Ty shook his head. "No, I can handle it. You get some sleep. I won't be gone long."  
  
"Okay," Carlos said nodding. "Goodnight, Ty."  
  
"Nite, Carlos."   
  
Carlos started down the hall and then turned back to his roommate with a grin on his face. "Oh and Ty?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"When this little dog starts crying and whimpering at four in the morning, just do me a favor and remember who brought him home, okay?"  
  
"Okay, I'll remember," Ty said with a chuckle. He snapped his fingers at the dog who ran to him promptly. "Come on, Hobo. Let's go for a walk." 


End file.
